The Ted Kennedy drama Chappaquiddick has added the always-welcome presence of Olivia Thirlby (Juno, Dredd) to its cast. She joins Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Bruce Dern, and fellow new addition Jim Gaffigan in the film which centers on the infamous 1969 tragedy. It was then that Kennedy (Clarke), after a party in which he had been drinking, was behind the wheel of a car with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne (Mara) as a passenger. The car went over a bridge into a channel. He managed to escape but she didn't, and yet the U.S. Senator refused to talk to police for a week. Thirlby will play one of the "boiler room girls", female members of the Robert Kennedy campaign, who were attending the party. The film will be directed by John Curran (The Painted Veil) with filming to begin in a few days. [Deadline]
Josh Hartnett is keeping himself busy following Penny Dreadful's cancellation. He's nearing a deal to star in The Last Draw of Jack of Hearts, an espionage thriller from writer/director Guy Moshe. In what sounds like fairly standard stuff, Hartnett would play a top member of an elite mercenary group who is shot in the back and left for dead during an operation in Africa. He returns seeking revenge and to reconnect with an old flame, finding love and betrayal. The film is a reunion between Hartnett and Moshe who worked together on the stylish but otherwise atrocious action flick, Bunraku. [Deadline]
